Allen Armentrout, of High Point, says both statues remind us of heroes and people desiring to be free and the time period that we shouldn't go back to.

"Lee said it's good that war is terrible because men won't grow to like it," said Armentrout. "We should be able to remember our wars and battles."

Armentrout was met by counterprotesters after standing in front of the Lee statue, which was the at the center of a white nationalist demonstration. He was there days after a deadly rally where a car crashed into a crowd and killed a woman after unrest and violence between protesters and white nationalists and neo-Nazi organizations.

"As much as I disagree with the neo-Nazis, the white supremacists, the people who are wanting to destroy America or those wanting to have communism in this country, everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe," said Armentrout. "They have the right to express that belief."

According to NBC News, the Charlottesville City Council voted 3-2 in February to take down the Lee statue in Emancipation Park, but the city was sued in March to prevent the removal. Bob Fenwick, a City Council member who voted for the motion, said the Jackson and Lee monuments "should be in a museum," NBC News reports.

Armentrout says the statues are fine where they are.

"We need our monuments to remember the past so we don't have to do it again," said Armentrout. "We need to remember and have monuments to remember the men that stood up for what they believe in."

Armentrout says he is applying to other colleges at the moment, hoping to continue his education after his removal from Pensacola Christian College in August. The college would not clarify why Armentrout was removed. Armentrout has created a PayPal account to assist with school expenses after losing scholarship money due to his dismissal.

"I feel like people misappropriated our history, and a lot of people are offended at our history now because they've been told a lie for so long," said Armentrout. "When I get up there and tell people the truth, they don't even take the truth I'm saying into account."